Mid-Atlantic rust collection

[hoodradKyle]

Well this is my first ever forum post let alone a build thread so bear with me. I recently purchased a 1972 two door 510 previously named Little Miss Sunshine. Recently the car has bounced around the mason-dixon line a bit.
http://community.ratsun.net/topic/38880-72-datsun-510-2-door-project-east-coast-washington-dc-area-3250-obo/?hl=%2Bfloor+%2Bpanel+%2Breplacement
http://community.ratsun.net/topic/41599-72-datsun-510-sedan-nla/
http://community.ratsun.net/topic/44213-fs-1972-510-2-dr-in-md-first-1500-takes-it/?do=findComment&comment=700380

Forever in project mode the car hasn't been driven a whole lot in the last 20 years. Previous build threads are here http://community.ratsun.net/topic/39882-little-miss-sunshine/ and here http://community.ratsun.net/topic/45202-revival-of-little-miss-sunshine-72-510-found-a-280zx-hub/, but that's all in the past.As the current owner I'm hoping to pick up the pieces of this car and get them back together. So it's been a couple weeks since I got the car and I haven't gotten a whole lot done yet, but I figured I would start this thread that way I can just keep adding to it as  I get things done. Got the car home and settled into a spot at the bottom of my driveway. pulled the dual cam KA that was just sitting on the cross member as well.

Then came tear down. I pulled off the door and windows, followed by the interior. A quick look under the car revealed that the floors were actually much worse than I had anticipated. After getting the floor mats and carpet out I realized why they were described as solid. A previous owner( I won't point any fingers, you can look as the build threads yourself) had laid pieces of sheet metal over the rust and used lag screws to hold it down. As a temporary fix to pass inspection I don't really have a problem with that, but as far as I can tell it wasn't meant that way. He also put adhesive sound deadening over all the screw heads and metal seams just to cover up the real problem


Once I got all of the "fixed" floors out and the factory sound deadening chipped away I did start to find some good metal which was nice.

ignore the trans its on jack stands I cut the hole for it, but I hadn't drilled the cross-member for it yet. Now the car has your typical rust but the more paint, sound deadening, and rubberized coating I took off the more clean metal I found. The biggest issue I now have is the driver's side seat rail mount area.I ended up cutting out the front driver's side floor pan.( the passengers has been cut out since it was sold from Virginia I guess) So here's how she sits now


no front floor pans and the rest of the floor stripped and ready to weld. Also got the trans cross-member drilled and the 5 speed fully situated in its new home.

[Spoona_Jay21]

not too shabby, hope to FINALLY seein this girl runnin!

[]2eDeYe]

Welcome, fantastic first post! :cool:

[hoodradKyle]

not too shabby, hope to FINALLY seein this girl runnin!

me too, I don't have real time line but hopefully sooner rather than later. Things seem to be moving along besides the interrupting thunderstorms here in the northeast.

Welcome, fantastic first post! :cool:

Thanks. Your profile says your staff so maybe you can help solve a problem I was having with this post. When I tried to use images from my flikr they wouldn't show up. Is this because flikr no longer has a direct link to the image or some other reason? I just ended up making a photobucket because I was frustrated, but I would love to use my flikr since they alow for much more storage than the free photobucket accounts.

[Tristin]

me too, I don't have real time line but hopefully sooner rather than later. Things seem to be moving along besides the interrupting thunderstorms here in the northeast.

Thanks. Your profile says your staff so maybe you can help solve a problem I was having with this post. When I tried to use images from my flikr they wouldn't show up. Is this because flikr no longer has a direct link to the image or some other reason? I just ended up making a photobucket because I was frustrated, but I would love to use my flikr since they alow for much more storage than the free photobucket accounts.

 

right click on your flickr image. Select what size you want. right click again and copy the image URL. In the reply box, click the green polaroid icon. Paste in the URL you copied. 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the site. Glad to see someone finally putting this together and Im glad it stayed here on Ratsun. Always sucks to see cars leave the community. Good luck with the build. 

[hoodradKyle]

Seeing as how I was going to need a welder for much longer than anyone wanted to let me borrow theirs, I started looking on craigslist and asking around with friends.Since I have never welded before I didn't really want to spend too much on a really nice one, just one to get me started. The goal was to find a cheaper used one or buy a harbor freight one. Since I have no knowledge on welding I did some searching and found that welders that could use gas gave "better" cleaner welds, but flux core welders were much cheaper. After researching and checking harbor freight prices my buddy came across one through a friend.

It was cheap, could use both gas and flux core, had adjustable wire speeds and heat settings, and was only used a couple times. So we bought it, one fact that I missed though was that it needed a 220 volt input. So once I got it home I was faced with a new problem, how was I going to power it. Talks of getting a 30 amp extension cord were rampant, but the nearest outlet was about 50 feet away. This left one option, run a new 220v socket closer. so that's what I ended up doing

Not nearly as difficult as I had anticipated, my first brush with house wiring went very smooth. After watching a youtube video and making a lowe's run I had the outlet finished in under an hour. and got started learning what welding was and how to do it.

my buddy testing it out on the "floor pans" I removed. My buddy is getting better at welding than I am, and he feels confident enough to start the floors once I get the sheet metal to do so. Hopefully this week

[Ratwagon1600]

Welcome.

 

I second Redeye, great intro post.

 

Rust looks horrible but nothing is not repairable if you take your time.

 

Plenty of great intro welding stuff available on the Interwebz.

 

If you want to pm me an email address I'm pretty sure I've got an "intro to mig welding" manual in .pdf format I can email to you.

 

 

Quick edit.

 

Go here:

 

http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/mig_handbook.pdf

 

This way others can access the same manual.

 

Cheers

[]2eDeYe]

Looks like Tristin took care of your question.

Make sure to get that wire inside some conduit. The elements can be very hard on the wire insulation.

[hoodradKyle]

right click on your flickr image. Select what size you want. right click again and copy the image URL. In the reply box, click the green polaroid icon. Paste in the URL you copied. 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the site. Glad to see someone finally putting this together and Im glad it stayed here on Ratsun. Always sucks to see cars leave the community. Good luck with the build. 

Thanks man, I'll give that a try.

 

Welcome.

 

I second Redeye, great intro post.

 

Rust looks horrible but nothing is not repairable if you take your time.

 

Plenty of great intro welding stuff available on the Interwebz.

 

If you want to pm me an email address I'm pretty sure I've got an "intro to mig welding" manual in .pdf format I can email to you.

 

 

Quick edit.

 

Go here:

 

http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/mig_handbook.pdf

 

This way others can access the same manual.

 

Cheers

 

good looking out, I'll read through that

Looks like Tristin took care of your question.

 

Make sure to get that wire inside some conduit. The elements can be very hard on the wire insulation.

I got outdoor wire and an outdoor receptacle, but I was thinking about running some pvc over it as well. 

[Ranman72]

welcome and fantastic first post

pics/ progress things done to help progression

I love it

[fisch]

Nice to have this one stay in the east! Love your enthusiasm and that you are digging right in. Do as much as you can while in the honeymoon phase!

[Rocket Dog]

Honestly I get tired of hearing old grumpy guys like me bitch about how "young people" aren't responsible these days, blah blah blah.  Whatever, kids today kick ass every bit as much as they did back in the day.

 

Kyle, love your project, even more I'm really impressed with your tenacity and drive.  Nice work!

 

Ted

[hoodradKyle]

Thanks for all the kind words guys

 

I have been getting cock blocked by mother nature all week so far(nice weather while I'm at work, and then as soon as I'm off work it rains) So I haven't really gotten anything done.. A buddy of mine showed me this power-steering delete http://www.ka-t.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34921 and since I have an extra single cam laying in my basement It was as simple as switching up the brackets and ordering a new belt.

worked really well, good tension on the belt and it looks like the grinding I did on the upper alternator bracket was plenty to clear the belt. Other than that I was able to find a local Amish welding/machine shop that had 18 gauge steel in stock(from looking around 18ga seemed to be a popular choice for floor pans) and got a half sheet for $35. I'm not sure if that's a good price, but it seems like it to me for the amount of metal I got. 5' by 4'

I do love my daily driver, 2005 Subaru legacy on bc coilovers and land-rover mondial rims

wagon's are great for hauling things. started to mock up the size and shape of the floor pans and then it started to rain again..oh well hopefully tomorrow brings more sunshine and possibly my buddies 810 sedan to park next to the dime :cool: he has a much shorter build ahead of him. basically just suspension and 5 speed swap.

[Ratwagon1600]

I'd happily pay $35 for a sheet that size.

 

I really like your templates and the way you write stuff like "bigger" on them (I do the same stuff).

 

Great progress so far, well done!

[nismosilvia]

Dude post pics of your Buddies 810 next to the dime for us

[hoodradKyle]

I'd happily pay $35 for a sheet that size.

 

I really like your templates and the way you write stuff like "bigger" on them (I do the same stuff).

 

Great progress so far, well done!

I've honestly never even looked for sheet metal pricing. Its seems really good to me. He said $0.75 per pound plus like 5 bucks in labor to cut it in half from a 10 foot sheet

I know I would probably end up tracing them exactly if I didn't write myself a note, and they would be too small.hah

 

Hopefully he get's it towed while I'm at work. I'll definitely get some shots of them together if its there when I'm off work. 

[captaingamez]

your in Lancaster?, no shit, I grew up in New Holland!! Ahh home sweet home, ill move back someday I think, nice build man!

[hoodradKyle]

your in Lancaster?, no shit, I grew up in New Holland!! Ahh home sweet home, ill move back someday I think, nice build man!

Nice, that's just a bit up the road from me.

[hoodradKyle]

So sure enough a "monsoon" came through right as I was getting off work and the 810 was arriving. typical mother nature.

I'm pretty sure my driveway looks much better with two datsuns, My parents might disagree but hey, Fin agreed to pay some form of rent so they are happy too.

Other than parking the 810 next to my car I didn't do anything today. Since I haven't gotten any work done this week I'm seriously debating whether I want to go to east coast bash(grassroots drift event in new jersey) this weekend or stay home and hope the sun is out enough to work on the floors.tough decisions. If I'm lucky Fin and I can avoid the rain and get some work done tomorrow. But since you asked for them here are some impromptu shots of the 810 once it finally stopped raining around 10:30.

Hopefully tomorrow night I can have something to post about other than someone else's car.

[nismosilvia]

So dope. That an awesome sight two sweet datsuns getting treatment.

[jrock4224]

i too love your daily .........i want one of those in a bad way

[Rocket Dog]

Rain.  Maybe you can erect a PVC pipe cube and some plastic drop cloths for a rain-proof booth?

[finianmc]

I guess I outta jump in on this, since I'm half of the "Summer Driveway Build". I'm Finn and I own the metallic dookie brown, L2.4 FI, 810 Sedan. It's on 240sx coilovers that I made, in the process of putting Q45 brakes up front and 240sx brakes in the rear. Lastly for now will be a 280zx 5 speed trans. That's the basics for now, I've got an outrageous built L2.6 in the process for the future and I'm looking for a 280zx full cv rear and subframe/ locking diff. And stuff and things

[hoodradKyle]

Rain. Maybe you can erect a PVC pipe cube and some plastic drop cloths for a rain-proof booth?

Actually found this in my dungeon of a basement(see later pics to verify dungeon status)

forecast doesn't look any better..

hopefully this old canopy can withstand some wind, we shall see.

 

Enough with my complaints about the weather, it was clear enough to do some sheet metal work. Got the front two pans cut and rough fitted, pretty happy with how they turned out. Had to figure out a way to make the bend to match the trans tunnel since I don't have access to a break. I saw somewhere on a forum once, a guy used some clamps and a table edge to bed sheet metal. Seemed like a pretty solid plan, here's the set up.

verification of dungeon status^

two bar clamps, a 4x4, and a metal table-saw work pretty good as a make-shift break. This is how they turned out. The drivers side required some interesting bends to make the pan sit against the frame rail and the trans tunnel, but it worked.

driver's side^

 

passenger's side required less strange bending, but did need a 90 degree bend since a previous owner cut directly along the rocker leaving nothing to weld to.

here's a test fit

planning on making a secondary piece to patch the kick panel in the front.

final test fit

once we had them fitted we realized a new problem. the 220v outlet was too far away :blush: lol..I guess I'll end up pushing the car forward 10 or so feet to tack the floors in place.

maybe tomorrow who knows. here's a shot of Fin's juicy white interior in the 810

[Ratwagon1600]

Seriously, shitfully fucking impressive!

 

Great work without the bender, well done!

 

You stole my pan break idea which I've used many times before :)